What’s going on? Is everyone alright? What are the arguments of the day? I’ve been on holiday (but travelling no further than my own front room, alas) for the last week and all this seems bewildering and strange. Big, blank white space to write words about PC games into, a buggered RSS feed to try [...]

The Humble Indie Bundle popularized the 'pay what you want' model for indie games. Now, new site Indie Royale is running with it. Every two weeks, Indie Royale will launch a 'pay what you want' bundle of four indie games, but with a minimum price that rises and falls depending on how generous customers are.

Bundles launch with a minimum price of $1.99, but this will slowly increase as people buy it. However, paying more than the minimum can knock the minimum price down a little for everyone else. Check out the FAQ for the complex workings of it all.

At the time of writing, the launch bundle has a minimum price of $5.24 after 22,424 bundles have been sold.

A new Indie Royale bundle will launch every fortnight, then be on sale for five days. Steam activation keys will be offered for games which support them, while "the majority" can be activated on Desura, and others can be downloaded direct from Indie Royale. Indie Royale intends to offer Windows, Mac, and Linux versions where possible.

With the launch bundle, Indie Royale is also throwing in extra Sanctum downloadable content packs at sales milestones. Steam keys for Gemini Rue, which only launched on Steam yesterday, are coming.

The indie scene is full of what a corporate sort might call Price-Costing Thought-Thinks. There’s an increasing trend wherein developers are offering early versions for sale to fund development, as well as offering ‘pay what you want’ initiatives and joining collections like The Humble Indie Bundle. Now, the indie aficionados behind Indiegames.com and the fine [...]

Nimbus is a little-known indie racing-puzzle game that's managed to make a name for itself on Steam. So what's next for developer Noumenon? An enhanced port of the game for PS3.

Nimbus will arrive on PlayStation Network with new content and "improvements" that weren't finished in time for the PC version. "Exactly what these improvements will be isn't entirely set in stone yet," the developer admits. But, the PS3 version is receiving "as much additional development time as the PC version," so it's likely the changes will be quite significant. No wonder the port is also receiving a new title: Nimbus+.

But what about the game's original fans, the ones that made it a success on the PC? "The plan is to bring some of the improvements we currently have planned for Nimbus+ over to PC where possible," the developer notes. "But there's nothing decided on that end yet."

As we see one of the more independent-leaning digital distribution services going mainstream, with Impulse being bought by GameStop, I’m very pleased to have noticed that there’s a new kid on the scene. Nimbus, created to be a digi-distributor for the archive of Adventure Game Studio games, can do much more believes creator Steve Poulton. He sees no reason why it shouldn’t go on to be the main platform for distributing indie games, although that’s a way off just yet.

RPS reader Andreas “So Powerful” Persson writes to inform us that indie puzzle-racer Nimbus has just been released on Steam for the price of £5.99. £5.99! That’s not even the cost of a book, and as well all know, books aren’t so hot. If a book was on Hot Or Not, how well would it do? Case closed.

Nimbus was originally an entry into the 2010 IGF, so the game’s evidently done well for itself. No demo yet, but maybe you’ll be sold on the trailer beneath. Maybe… (more…)